View full sizeJohn Munson/The Star-LedgerThe Giant' Deon Grant and Kenny Phillips get in position to bat down a Hail Mary pass from New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady to end Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Eli Manning says this year's team found a way to come together and winNew York Giants quarterback Eli Manning talked to the press about some similarities between this team and the 2007-08 team. He said this team found a way to win through adversity and some down times during the season. The Giants won Super Bowl XLVI 21-17. (Video by William Perlman/The Star-Ledger)

INDIANAPOLIS — As New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady attempted to orchestrate another winning drive in Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday night, culminated by a last-second heave that sailed more than 50 yards through the air on the final play, all the family that owns the Giants could do was look on helplessly.

“I had rosary beads in my pocket for the final plays, saying, ‘Wellie, what are you doing to me up there?’ ” Ann Mara said in reference to her late husband Wellington.

Her son, John, was experiencing some cardio trouble.

“My heart stopped,” John Mara said. “It really did, because anything could’ve happened then it would’ve been a disaster to end the season like that. Fortunately, it came out the right way.”

It nearly didn’t.

Brady and the Patriots offense had 57 seconds to go 80 yards, a scene reminiscent of the 2001 Super Bowl in which Brady led a winning drive against the St. Louis Rams. But this time, the Patriots couldn’t just settle for a field goal and were only able advance to their own 49-yard line with five seconds remaining.

Waiting on the other side of Brady’s desperation pass was a rabid group of defenders and receivers situated for a jump ball halfway into the end zone. A combination of linebacker Jacquian Williams and safety Kenny Phillips was able to knock the ball down before it got to tight end Aaron Hernandez. But it almost wasn’t enough: Tight end Rob Gronkowski made a last-ditch effort as the pigskin landed on the turf, his outstretched arms a second to late, preserving the Giants’ 21-17 victory.

“Knock it down, knock it down, knock it down,” linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka said he was thinking as the pass descended in the end zone. “That’s something we’ve gone over. We’ve seen guys go up and try to get the interception and the game ends horribly for them. We had everybody in position, and we knew what we had to do.”

“Throughout the first 48 seconds I wasn’t worried at all,” running back Brandon Jacobs said of Sunday night’s final drive.

“It got down to under 10 seconds and that’s when I got nervous, because I know plays happen, and we had won by that sword. You win by the sword and you die by the sword.”

For the Giants, it was a fitting conclusion to a season in which a bad bounce here and an unfortunate break there could have derailed this improbable championship run before it even started; an illustration of the fine line between hoisting the Super Bowl trophy and not even qualifying for the postseason.

A season after finishing 10-6 but not qualifying for the playoffs, the Giants became the first team with seven regular-season losses to win the Super Bowl. And, naturally, it came down to the very last second in a season full of late-game drama.

“I saw the ball in the air, and I didn’t even look out there,” Jacobs said. “The ball hit the ground, and it was all party time.”